Overview

• Winners of the Scottish, Spanish, Japan, Hong Kong, Australian and South African Opens will receive invitations to the 2026 Masters, with The Open using the same events within its qualifying framework.
• Augusta National will now extend exemptions only to winners of PGA Tour events that award full points toward the Tour Championship, removing automatic berths from the fall schedule.
• The R&A will publish its 2026 Open Qualifying Series schedule in September, incorporating the six national championships into 15 events across 13 countries.
• Augusta National will invite only the winner from each selected Open, whereas The Open typically allocates multiple spots to leading finishers at those tournaments.
• There remains no direct Masters exemption via the LIV Golf League, though players can qualify by winning one of the designated national Opens on tours such as the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and DP World Tour.